Founded in 1084 by St. Bruno. The Carthusians attempt to combine the ermetical and cenobetic life. Their ideal combines the best of both forms of monastic life, but, with a decided emphasis on solitude. They are strictly cloistered, and have no active ministry. They were founded in the French Alps near Grenoble. By accounts of the manner of life of the first Carthusians, the earliest, written by Guibert, Abbot of Nogent, the second by Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny.

Northamptonshire was honourably distinguished for the number and variety of its monastic and other religious foundations. The Carthusian order was the only one of any considerable repute which was not represented, but English houses of that order were few. The magnificent abbey of Peterborough was the one foundation that went back to pre-conquest days. It was a splendid representative of the great order of Black Monks of St. Benedict; to it pertained a neighbouring cell at Oxney, served by the parent house. A small Benedictine priory was founded temp. Henry I at Luffield in Whittlebury Forest. The buildings were in Buckinghamshire, but the church stood in Northamptonshire. It was suppressed by Henry VII, and the trifling revenues annexed to his foundation at Westminster. There were also other small Benedictine settlements in the county, off-shoots of the great abbeys of Normandy, but they were all suppressed before the days of Henry VIII. Such were the cells or small alien priories of Everdon, pertaining to the abbey of Bernay, of Weedon Pinkney to the abbey of St. Lucian, and of Weedon Beck to the abbey of Bec.

Besides St. Bruno the best known saints of the order are: St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln (d. 1200); St. Anthelm, seventh prior of the Grande Chartreuse, and first general, who died Bishop of Belley in 1178; St. Arthold, Bishop of Belley (d. 1206); St. Stephen of Chitillon, Bishop of Die (d. 1213). Many members have been beatified, among them the English Carthusian martyrs and Bl. Nicolo Albergati, Cardinal and Bishop of Bologna. There have been about seventy Carthusian bishops and archbishops, including a few cardinals. There has never been a Carthusian pope.

The first English charterhouse was founded at Witham in Somerset by King Henry II in 1178, the tenth and last by Henry V in 1414 at Sheen. At the time of Henry VIII's breach with Rome the monks, especially those of the London charterhouse (founded 1370), offered a stanch resistance. The fourth of May, 1535, is memorable for the deaths of the Protomartyrs of the English Reformation, the Bridgettine Monk Richard Reynolds, and the three Carthusian Priors, John Houghton of London, Robert Lawrence of Beauvale, and Augustus Webster of Axholme. During the next five years, fifteen of the London Carthusians perished on the scaffold or were starved to death in Newgate Gaol.

Carthusians spend most of their time in this "cell. They gather together as a community for certain prayers, and for Sunday dinner. This way of life never attracted large numbers. However, it did attract many benefactors who wished to enlist the prayers of the Carthusians. They are an austere order, but, were very popular in England. Wealthy and influential people wanted to found and support Carthusian foundations. Their monasteries, called Charterhouses, were established in England in 1178 at Witham near Somerset., and the tenth and last one established by Henry V in 1414 at Sheen. London, too, had its Charterhouse. It later became famous because of its resistence to Henry VIII. Presently, the Carthusians have a large Charterhouse, St Hugh's, near Parkminster. It is a new foundation, and was built with the idea that it could house all the Carthusians being displaced throughout Europe. The Carthusians, alone of all monastic orders, have never undergone a 'reform' and have maintained their original vigor.

They follow the Rule of St. Benedict, although interpreted according to their unique Consitutions. Most of their daily life is lived in a small two storey 'cells'. This consists of a five rooms; on the ground floor, a storeroom for timber and fuel, and a workshop with a lathe and other tools; above , an antechamber, a small library with sufficient room for a bookcase, chair, table, and the cell proper, whose furntiure consists of a wooden box bedstead with woolen blankets, and mattress of straw, a table for meals, a few chairs, a stove, and a stall with a prie-Dieu, known as the oratorium.

Guibert wrote in 1104, Peter some twenty years later, so there was time for development, which may account for certain discrepancies between the two accounts. The "Customsi" of the Chartreuse were not committed to writing till 1127. In the earliest days the hermits had no rule, but all strove to live after Bruno's example and in accordance with the Evangelical counsels. When regular monastic buildings were erected and vocations began to increase, some sort of rule became a necessity. St. Bruno wrote none, but the customs which he introduced, together with additions born of experience, were embodied in the "Consuetudines" written by Guigo, the fifth prior, in 1127. The Rule of St. Benedict (the only monastic rule of those days) gave the norm of those duties which were performed in common, and supplied the arrangement of the Divine Office, the treatment of guests, the form of the vows.

Many new departures were introduced to meet the needs of the solitude which is an essential of the Carthusian life; from the Fathers of the Desert came the laura-like arrangement of the building and the solitary life of the cells, while the statutes are probably also indebted to the Rule of Camaldoli (see CAMALDOLESE) (founded by St. Romuald in 1012), which was reduced to writing by the Blessed Rudolf in 1080. The fundamental principle of Camaldoli and the Chartreuse is the same, namely, the combination of Western monasticism as embodied in St. Benedict's Rule with the eremitical life of the Egyptian solitaries. In both orders the superiors were to be priors, not abbots, and in all the earliest Carthusian houses there was, as at Camaldoli, a "lower house" for lay brothers who served the external needs of the contemplative monks at the "upper house". The first hermits tended strongly to be purely eremitical, but the cenobitic development was hastened hour by the necessities of life find by the influence of neigbouring Benedictine houses, especially perhaps of Cluny. The union of the two systems was only gradually evolved under the pressure of circumstance.

St. Bruno himself was the first Carthusian author and was followed by Guigo. His "Consuetudines" were first approved by Innocent II in 1133 (Ann., I, 305) and are still the basis of the modern statutes. Guibert mentions the richness of the library of the chartreuse. In 1258 the general, Dom Riffier, issued a new edition, adding various ordinances passed by the general chapters since 1127; these are known as the "Statuta Antiqua". The "Statuta Nova" with similar additions appeared in 1368. In 1509 the general chapter approved the "Tertia Cornpilatio", consisting of a collection of the ordinances of the chapters and a synopsis of the statutes. The Carthusian Rule was printed for the first time by Johann Amorbach at Basle in 1510. Throughout the Middle Ages the Carthusians were famous copyists. St. Bruno himself was the first Carthusian author, writing commentaries on the Psalms and on St. Paul's Epistles. The first book printed at a charterhouse was issued from the presses of the Seliola Dei near Parma in 1477. The modern printing works of the order were transferred in 1901 from the chartreuse of Montreuil to Tournai.

The pictures given by Guibert and Peter the Venerable depict the Carthusian life at a stage of semi-development. The only mitigation of importance introduced since Guigo's day is the decrease of the fast on bread and water from thrice to once weekly. Additional duties have been laid upon the monks in the shape of extra prayers, the singing of a daily conventual Mass, the lengthening of the night Office and of the Office for the Dead, and the withdrawal of the permission to take a midday siesta, while, instead of having, as formerly, seven or eight hours uninterrupted sleep, their rest is now broken by the long night vigils.

In the Priorship of St. Antheim, about 1245, the nuns of the ancient Abbey of Prébayon asked to be received into the order, and Blessed John of Spain, Prior of Montrieux, was ordered to adapt the Carthusian Rule to their needs. The Carthusian nuns have never been numerous, have always been famed for their regularity and fervour. Two convents were founded in the twelfth century, nine in the thirteenth, and four in the fourteenth, but of all these only nine were in existence in 1400. In 1690 when Innocent Le Masson published the "Statuts des Moniales" there were only five, four of which were in France and one near Bruges; the last was suppressed by Joseph II in 1783, and the others disappeared in the French Revolution. In 1820 the surviving nuns reassembled at Lozier (Isere), and finally settled in 1822 at Beauregard, some miles from the Grande Chartreuse. Thence foundations were made in 1854 at Bastide-Saint-Pierre (Tarn-et-Garonne), and in 1870 at Notre-Dame du Gard near Amiens. The nuns are still at Beauregard, but the rest are in exile at Burdine in Belgium, and at San Francesco, and Motta Grossa near Turin.

According to the statutes the vows should be solemn, but since the French Revolution and freemasonry, they have been regarded as simple by the Church. No widow is received. The starting point of the French Revolution was the convocation of the States General by Louis XVI. They comprised three orders, nobility, clergy, and the third estate, the last named being permitted to have as many members as the two other orders together, one saught to be based on the separation of the powers. The Carthusian nuns have retained the privilege of the consecration of virgins, which they have inherited from the nuns of Prébayon. The consecration, which is given four years after the vows are taken, can only be conferred by the diocesan. The rite differs but slightly from that given in the "Pontifical". The nun is invested with a crown, ring, stole and maniple, the last being worn on the right arm. These ornaments the nun only wears again on the day of her monastic jubilee, and after her death on her bier. At Matins, if no priest be present, a nun assumes the stole and reads the Gospel. There are also lay sisters, Données, and Saeurs Touricres. Famous among Carthusian nuns have been St. Roseline of Villeneuve and Bl. Beatrix of Ornacieus.

From its very nature the order grew slowly. In 1300 there were but 39 monasteries, but during the fourteenth century 113 were founded, extending as ftr as Silesia, Bobemia, and Hungary. During the Great Schism there were two generals, but both resigned on the election of Alexander V in 1409 and the order was once more united. During the fifteenth century, 44 charterhouses were founded and in 1521 there were in all 206, but during the sixteenth century 39 were destroyed b the Reformation and only l3 founded. In 1559 a foundation in Mexico was projected but fell through owing to the opposition of the King of Spain.

A Carthusian monastery covers a great deal of ground owing to the system of life. It usually consists, of the great cloister, round which are the separate houses, or "cells" of the monks, the lesser cloister with cells of various officials, the "obediences", or workshops of the lay brothers and their living rooms, church, chapter-house, refectory and other conventual offices. The church is usually small and without aisles, divided by a solid screen with a door and two altars into the choir proper and lay brothers' choir. No organ is allowed. There is usually a tribune for visitors. No woman, save the sovereign, may enter a charterhouse. At the side of each cell door is the guichet or hatch, through which the monk's food is introduced by a lay brother; within, a covered ambulacrum, with a small garden beside it, leads to the house. This consists of five rooms; on the ground floor, a store room for timber and fuel, and a workshop with a lathe and other tools; above, an antechamber, a small library with just sufficient room for bookcase, chair, table, and the cell proper, whose furniture consists of a wooden box-bedstead with woollen blankets, and mattress of straw, a table for meals, a few chairs, a stove, and a stall with a prie-Dieu, known as the oratorium.

The French charterhouses were less infected with Jansenism than most of the ancient orders. Owing to the energy of the general, Dom Antoine de Mongeffond, only thirty monks out of a total of over 1,000, and those mostly belonging to the Paris house, ultimately refused to sign the "Unigenitus". These fled to Utrecht. At the outbreak of the Revolution there were 122 charterhouses, which were nearly all suppressed, as the French armies swept over Europe. In 1816 the monks returned to the Grande Chartreuse. The Spanish houses were suppressed in 1835; the Port-Dietu in Switzerland, which had escaped the earlier storm, in 1847; the monasteries in Italy for a second time during the course of the Risorgimento; and the restored French houses as a consequence of the Association Laws of 1901.

The prior of the Grande Chartreuse, who is elected by the monks of that house, is always the general of the order. He wears no insignia, but is the only one in the order who receives the title of "Reverend Father", all other religious being known as "Venerable Fathers". The general chapter, which consists of the visitors and all the priors, meets annually, and receives the resignations of all the superiors of the order including the general. These it reinstates or removes at will. Its ordinances have the force of law, but do not become permanent unless twice renewed. The visitors, who are appointed by the chapter, make a visitation of each charterhouse every two vears, to enquire into its condition and reform any abuses. The first general chapter of the order was held by St. Anthelm in 1142, and in the yeare 1258 its powers were confirmed by Pope Alexander IV. To the wise ordinances of this body and to its series of distinguished generals the order owes its claim nunquam reformata quia nunquam deformata.

The prior of each house is, in strict law, elected by the professed monks of the community, if there are four present who have been actually professed for that house or who are original founders. Nowadays he is generally the father general and the chapter. The prior is assisted by various officials. These are the vicar, who takes the prior's place in case of necessity, the procurator, who is entrusted with the temporal administration and the care of the lay brothers, the coadjutor, who looks after guests and retreatants, the antiquior, who takes the vicar's place, the sacristan, and the novice-master.

The following are among the more famous: Ludolf of Saxony (d. after 1340), the author of a well known "Vita Christi"; Henry of Xalkar (d. 1408), who converted Gerhard Groot; Denis the Carthusian (d. 1471), the Doctor Ecstatims whose works are now being edited by the order in 45 vols.; Lanspergius (d., 1539); Surius (d. 1578), whose "Vitae" still form a useful supplement to the Bollandists' unfinished "Acta"; Nicholas Molin (d. 1638); Petreius (d. 1640); Innocent Le Masson (d. 1703); Le Couteulx (d. 1709); Tromby, who flourished c. 1783, all historians of the order.

On Mary's accession nineteen monks belonging to various houses gathered at Sheen under Prior Maurice Chauncy, a monk of the London Charterhouse, who, to his lasting sorrow, had lost the crown of martyrdom by taking the Oath of Supremacy. The restoration was short-lived, for on Mary's death the monks were once more driven into exile. Prior Chauncy (died in 1581, but the English community kept together in different parts of the Low Countries with varying fortunes, until the charterhouse of Sheen Anglorum at Nieuport, with a community of six choir monks and two donnés, was suppressed by Joseph II in 1783. The last prior, Father Williams, died at Little Malvern Court, 2 June, 1797. His papers, the seal of Sheen Anglorum, and various relics are now in the possession of the Carthusians of Parkminster. A charterhouse was founded at Perth in 1429 by King James I of Scotland, and a short-lived foundation was made at Kinalehin in South Connaught in 1280, being abandoned by the order in 1321.